Jahnke Lionel G GLASAIR III N291KT

Summary

On 21 November 2021 at about 00:56 local time, a Jahnke Lionel G GLASAIR III registered N291KT was involved in an accident near Big Bear City, California, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

21 November 2021 at 00:56

Classification

Accident

Location

Big Bear City, California, United States

Coordinates

34.1234, -116.9361

Aircraft

Jahnke Lionel G GLASAIR III

Registration

N291KT

Category

Airplane

Year built

1990

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Camarillo → Phoenix

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR22FA044

1 person died.

The pilot’s failure to maintain clearance from mountainous terrain for reasons that could not be determined based on the available information, which resulted in controlled flight into terrain.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot departed on a cross-country flight in the experimental, amateur-built airplane under day visual meteorological conditions. He was reported missing the following day, and the wreckage was subsequently discovered along the route of flight near the summit of a mountain at an elevation about 9,720 ft mean sea level (msl). Automatic dependent surveillance – broadcast (ADS-B) data revealed that the pilot departed and climbed the airplane to an altitude about 9,500 ft msl on an easterly heading and roughly maintained this heading and altitude for the duration of the flight until impact. Both the ADS-B data and distribution of the wreckage were consistent with controlled flight into terrain in a near-level attitude with a high forward velocity and revealed no evidence of evasive action before impact. The scope of the wreckage examination was limited due to the location of the accident site; however, all major components of the airplane were identified at the site. Additionally, ADS-B data was not consistent with the pilot experiencing a flight control or engine anomaly before the accident. Whether the pilot may have experienced physiological incapacitation or impairment during the flight could not be determined based on the available information. No blood samples were available for toxicological testing; therefore, carboxyhemoglobin levels could not be determined. Testing of available muscle tissue indicated the pilot’s use of the sedating antihistamine doxylamine; however, this result could not be used to determine whether the drug had sedating or impairing effects that may have contributed to the accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.